Rain ruins India-Australia 4th ODI in Ranchi

The fourth One-Day International between India and Australia was abandoned in Ranchi, on Wednesday, because of a wet outfield caused by heavy rain.

Chasing 296 for victory, India were 27 for no loss in 4.1 overs when the heavens opened up at the JSCA Stadium.

- Scorecard

It rained for nearly two hours before the umpires carried out an inspection at 2035 IST and ruled that the outfield would not be ready by the cut-off time of 2110 IST.

Earlier, Australia rode on a record 153-run partnership between George Bailey and Glenn Maxwell to recover from a jittery start and posted a challenging 295 for eight.

India trail the seven-match series 1-2. The next match will be played in Cuttack on Saturday.

Captain Bailey (98) and Maxwell (92) missed their respective centuries but helped Australia recover from a horror start with a quickfire 153-run partnership for the fifth wicket.

Pacer Mohammad Shami's three-wicket burst left Australia in early trouble.

The Indian team let the Aussies off the hook as they dropped as many as six catches.

Bailey was dropped twice (on zero and 35) in what could have been regulation catches, while Maxwell too got reprieve on two occasions (on 44 and 69).

Shami was pick of the Indian bowlers with splendid figures of three for 42 in eight overs, while Vinay Kumar and Ravichandran Ashwin took two apiece but were expensive with economy rates of 6.50 and 6.33 each.

Jaydev Unadkat, who replaced the struggling Ishant Sharma, went wicketless and bowled just six overs.

Shami extracted swing from the pitch, bowling consistently in excess of 140kph to trouble the Aussie openers.

He castled Aaron Finch (5) with an inswinger that went through the gap between bat and bat in the second over, while left-hander Phillip Hughes took an outside edge with the India skipper Dhoni taking a fine catch.

Shami's two-wicket burst, which reduced Australia to 24 for two in the sixth over, meant that for the first time in the series the opening duo failed to notch up the 50-mark.

The Bengal pacer almost had a third to his name in the next ball but Virat Kohli dropped Bailey at the third slip with the Aussie skipper yet to open his account.

With Shami on a roll, light drizzle halted the match for about 30 minutes when Australia were 28 for two after 7.2 overs.

But the rain subsided as Shami came to resume his spell and took the prized scalp of Shane Watson (14), in a replay of Finch's dismissal.

While Unadkat was not able to move the ball, Shami did it efficiently with sheer pace as the Aussies found it difficult to break free in the mandatory powerplay, going at four runs per over.

But the goodwork of Shami and Unadkat was undone by R Vinay Kumar whose slow pace and lack of movement was enough for Bailey to cut loose as the skipper smashed a six and two fours to get 14 runs from his first over.

India had the fourth wicket in Adam Voges (7) who was trapped leg before wicket by Ashwin but Bailey had luck on his side again as India dropped the Australian captain for a second time with Ashwin being the culprit.

Bailey and Maxwell slowly repaired the damage and played the spinners intelligently to build on their partnership even as India's miserable run with catching continued.

Maxwell too got reprieve twice, by Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni, as Australia slowly tilted the match in their favour.

Dhoni's reliance on slow bowlers during the halfway stage helped the Aussies' cause as the duo completed their respective half-centuries.

While Bailey's innings was full of strokeplay, Maxwell tried innovation with his reverse and pull shots as Australia cruised to 201 for four in 35 overs.

Bailey smashed seven sixes and three fours before top edging a Vinay Kumar delivery to deep midwicket, where Rohit Sharma took a safe catch as the batsman missed his second century of the series.

Vinay Kumar took his second wicket dismissing a dangerous looking Maxwell who hit five sixes and six fours in a 77-ball knock as India slowly pegged themselves back.

But the sloppy catching ensured Australia's lower order -- Mitchell Johnson  (25) and James Faulkner (25 not out) -- to post another challenging total, five runs shy of a fourth 300-plus total in the series.

Photograph: BCCI